Manufacturing (East Midlands)

Andrew Bingham Excerpts

Tuesday 12th February 2013 Westminster Hall

[Andrew Bingham (High Peak) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this morning, Mr Hollobone. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood (Mr Spencer) on securing this debate, and on giving the east midlands a chance to shine and us a chance to put ourselves on the record about what a great place it is for manufacturing.

I represent the High Peak which, to many of my constituents, does not necessarily feel part of the east midlands. We are the most northerly constituency, and much of the High Peak looks to the north-west: we have north-west postcodes and north-west television, and many of my constituents travel to the north-west to work and shop and for their recreational needs. Another part of the High Peak faces east, and the Hope valley gravitates towards Sheffield, parts of it receiving their media from the Yorkshire region. Forgive the geography lesson, Mr Hollobone, but I want to get over that the High Peak, far from being remote and miles from anywhere, as people sometimes think we are, is not only in the east midlands but is very much the cockpit of the north of England. Ideally situated between the cities of Manchester and Sheffield—I live 24 miles from either city—we are in striking distance of many other cities, including Leeds, Doncaster, Barnsley and Liverpool. Consequently, a huge variety of manufacturing businesses have grown up in the High Peak over many years. I want to talk about one or two of them, to stress how the High Peak as part of the east midlands is ideally placed for manufacturing.

We have many household names. Many people watching the Formula 1 Grand Prix will have seen the name Ferodo, manufacturers of brake linings. Ferodo was founded in 1897 by Herbert Frood in Chapel-en-le-Frith, in my constituency. Those brake linings are still produced there, in the east midlands, to this very day. Some of the manufacturing was outsourced abroad, but it is now coming back into the High Peak because we are doing such a good job. Despite Ferodo being acquired a couple of times since the name came out, anyone coming off the roundabout and going towards the factory will see the name “Ferodo” still proudly emblazoned on the front of the factory. I should probably declare an interest at this point, because I supplied that illuminated sign in a previous life, when I had my own business. The sign, which has been there for many years, is still working, which is testament to the quality of the goods that I supplied in my heyday—I am not sure whether that is now or then.

We also have a company called Street Crane, which manufactures cranes and crane kits that go all over the world. A while ago, as a member of the armed forces parliamentary scheme, I went out to Afghanistan, and I was particularly proud when I walked into the maintenance warehouse in Camp Bastion and saw two huge overhead cranes with “Street Crane” on. It was a proud moment to be in Camp Bastion with High Peak-made cranes straddling the warehouse, showing that Street Crane is exporting all over the world and doing its bit for the country, batting for Britain in a worldwide market.

Another company is Otter Controls. We all use and see many of the goods manufactured in the High Peak, but we are not necessarily aware of them. This morning, many of us put our kettle on, and there is a good chance that the thermostat in it was manufactured by Otter Controls. The company was founded at the end of the war to manufacture snap action thermostats that—to get technical—are used in a three-legged bi-metal blade. Those who did science at school should remember the bi-metal strip and how it moves with heat. The concept behind the switch was developed when the founder of Otter’s experimented with the strips for heated suits for RAF pilots during the war, because the pilots got either very cold or very hot in their aircraft. Having come up with the idea of the thermostat in the suit, after the war he decided to roll it out into other areas. The company was all about making people a little ’otter—that is where the name Otter came from. This is a High Peak product that people use without realising it.

Valentine’s day is nearly upon us, and I am sure everyone has been out shopping frantically—I hope the gentlemen have, anyway—so I draw my colleagues’ attention to another product that many will see: the famous Love Hearts by Swizzels, as well as Drumstick lollies and Refreshers. Those of us who have offices in Norman Shaw North know that there is usually a supply in my office—I am a bit like the pied piper sometimes—and those sweets are made by Swizzels-Matlow in New Mills. Swizzels employs hundreds of people, most of them from within a 10-mile radius of the factory. It has made sweets for the royal family and received royal visits, and it is a great name known throughout the world, also manufacturing in the High Peak. Many years ago, on holiday abroad, sitting in a little wooden hut having a cup of coffee with a friend of mine with some children, the guy behind him brought out some sweets for them: he brought out some Love Hearts. We thought: “We have come all this way, and they are giving us sweets that we could have nipped down the road to New Mills to get.”

In a previous life, as I say, I had a small business and supplied many High Peak engineering companies with equipment. Since being elected, I have renewed my acquaintance with many of those businesses, such as the GJD group in Glossop, which makes engineered components for the aerospace industry and timber-frame buildings for the construction industry—that shows the breadth of business.

I have a particular fondness for micro-businesses, which I shall just touch on—I am conscious of the time. I recently went to see a Mr Philip Taylor, who is a cordwainer. You, Mr Hollobone, were talking about Loake shoes; Mr Taylor makes specialist footwear. He has made more than 1,500 pairs of shoes for people. When I visited him, he had a client in from Canada, because Mr Taylor was the person who can make shoes to deal with the client’s condition.

I could talk about many more companies in the High Peak, such as the quarries and the quarry-related products. My wife works for a company that makes linings for gutters—instead of changing our gutters, we could line them—and, given the amount of rain we get in this country, it is busy. Business is tough, however, and there are challenges. We want better transport links and, certainly, better broadband. I am proud that the Government are rolling out better broadband, and agree that they should—I describe broadband as the fourth utility. The High Peak, within the east midlands, is working hard and punching above its weight. We are making a wide range of products and selling them to the UK and throughout the world. For anyone who reads the debate, let me say this: I agree with what has been said—the east midlands is a fantastic place to bring business to and, in my view, the High Peak is the best place in the east midlands.

If I may, I shall take a second to touch on the regional growth fund. I hope that the Minister will look carefully at the bids in the fourth round. We have a bid in from Buxton in my constituency. It is shovel-ready, it will create jobs, and I hope that it may be successful, as it has not been in previous rounds.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Wright]

I absolutely agree. We should use economic values. If Bombardier or any other company fails to win a contract, we should consider the wider economic consequences, in terms of lost taxes, the money that could have been pumped into the local economy and the losses in the supply chain. Those important factors should be part of procurement decisions.

The second point I want to mention relates to a particularly distinctive strength of the east midlands economy and its manufacturing firms: the supply chain. I am interested in it, because it is an important part of improving competitiveness. In November last year, the Minister announced the advanced manufacturing supply chain initiative—we are now on round 2. Despite the importance of mid-sized firms in the east midlands and their potential, will he confirm that no east midlands firm was successful in the bids? What will he do about that to help to realise the potential in the supply chain?

Thirdly, the whole House will agree on the importance of an export-led economic recovery. As we heard today, there is potential for that in the region, but the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire chamber of commerce’s latest quarterly survey says:

“Export sales are at their lowest levels since December 2009”.

It goes on to say:

“Net manufacturing export sales balances remain significantly lower than the national averages.”

As an interested outsider, it is clear to me that the region is not reaching its potential for an export-led recovery. What can the Minister do in conjunction with UK Trade & Investment and others to ensure that that potential is realised?

[Andrew Bingham]

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that exports from the east midlands in the first three quarters of 2012 were £13.5 billion, which is up £500 million on the same period in the previous year?

[Mr Wright]

That is welcome, but we should not be complacent in any region. In my region of the north-east, the economy has an important export-led component, but we cannot be complacent in what is a fierce race, as the Prime Minister has said. We should be resolute in ensuring that the potential for exports is fulfilled as far as is possible, so that we can have an export-led recovery.